Macron Accuses US of Weaponizing Trade Policy to "Subordinate" Europe
The French leader told the World Economic Forum that America is deliberately targeting Europe's economic foundations through coercive agreements and tariff threats designed to force the continent into submission.
"Competition from the United States of America through trade agreements that undermine our export interests, demand maximum concessions, and openly aim to weaken and subordinate Europe, combined with an endless accumulation of new tariffs that are fundamentally unacceptable," Macron declared.
His sharp rebuke comes as President Donald Trump threatens punitive tariffs against nations resisting his territorial ambitions toward Greenland. Last week, Trump unveiled a 10% tariff on eight European NATO members that dispatched small military units to the autonomous Danish territory, pushing transatlantic relations toward a breaking point.
Macron warned that "trade wars and protectionist escalation will only produce losers" while calling on European capitals to mount a unified defense during what he characterized as an extraordinary period of regional vulnerability.
The French president signaled Brussels possesses "very powerful" trade weapons and should deploy them when the bloc is "not respected," referencing the EU's Anti-Coercion Instrument—nicknamed the "trade bazooka"—as a potential response to Trump's Greenland-related ultimatums.
European officials are simultaneously examining whether to reactivate a suspended €93 billion ($108 billion) retaliatory tariff package targeting American products. The measures were drafted last year following Trump's initial tariff offensive but placed on hold after preliminary transatlantic negotiations. An EU diplomat informed Reuters this week the penalties could automatically take effect on February 6 without a breakthrough agreement.
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